Various shoes have been developed over the years which have attempted to emulate the sole of the foot of the wearer to thereby provide a degree of comfort when walking, running, or the like. These shoes typically anticipated the wearer to use a conventional thin knit sock with the shoe so that the innersole of the shoe substantially corresponds to the sole of the foot. Examples of such shoes may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,750 by Muller entitled "Shoe-Construction, Shoe-Construction Product, and Method of Fabricating The Products" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,212 by Coomer entitled "Orthotically Dynamic Footwear."
The common assignee of the present invention, however, recognized that when wearing shoes, the major wear and tear on the foot occurs in the ball and heel regions of the foot because a major portion of the person's weight is distributed in these regions when standing, walking, or running. Therefore, the common assignee developed a knit sock having an increased density of knit fabric in the ball and heel portions of the sock to provide added comfort to the wearer and reduce the damage to these regions of the foot. An example of such a sock may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,249 by Thorneburg entitled "Jogging And Running Athletic Sock" assigned to the common assignee of the present invention.
This knit sock, although quite successful in the marketplace, is often worn with shoes which have innersoles conforming to the foot of the wearer, innersoles having a generally flat overall contour, or another contour incompatible with the thicker fabric portions of the knit sock. Hence, the wearer may experience bunching of the fabric of the sock in the shoe, may experience discomfort when worn with various conventional shoes, or may be forced to use a larger size shoe in order to gain the full benefits of these socks.
In light of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a footwear system which provides protection and enhanced comfort to the foot of the wearer by matingly interfacing the sole of a shoe with the thicker and thinner fabric portions of a sock.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a footwear system that reduces shearing forces on the foot of the wearer.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a shoe that provides enhanced comfort to the foot of a wearer and that is adapted for matingly interfacing with a sock positioned on the foot of a wearer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an innersole that is adaptable to be inserted into a shoe so as to matingly interface with a sock positioned on the foot of a wearer and that provides enhanced comfort to the wearer of the shoe.